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The lawyers’ perspective on the region’s business in 2016

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by David Ramirez

Latin Trade interviewed Fradyn Suarez, Partner at Jones Day –one of the largest firms in the world– to get a sense of the areas of interest law firms operating in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are working on these days.

Ms Suarez, who focuses in cross-border finance and investment, has more than a decade of experience in doing business in the region, advising deals in corporate and project finance, acquisitions, debt restructurings and bond offerings, among others.

She is admitted to the bars of Florida, Illinois and New York states, is a frequent speaker at conferences on Latin America, and has been recognized with multiple honors from various entities, including the Chambers Global, Latin America and USAdirectories for her extensive finance experience in the region.

Our dialogue with Ms Suarez focused on the current business environment in the region and how it is impacting the activities of law firms like Jones Day. “There’s a difficult environment for business in some countries, but from the perspective of a firm in international law we continue to see Latin America as a place of opportunity and an area of important growth potential for a global firm like us”, says Ms Suarez.

What kind of loans are you seeing closing more frequently in the region? Any specific area with a heavy concentration?

In terms of trade finance, we are seeing a lot of loans from international banks, from the US and Europe, to their local peers. This constituted an important portion of our corporate finance work in 2015 and we believe that it will remain as a strong trend in 2016.  In addition to working capital and trade finance lines including programs with agencies such as OPIC (the Washington-based export credit agency of the US government), we have worked on bank-to-bank loans that are earmarked for specific purposes such as on lending for energy efficient projects or loans to SMEs or women-owned or controlled businesses.

How do you see the business trends in Brazil this year?

FS: 2015 was a very slow and difficult year and we expect the same problems to continue this year. The overall situation in Brazil remains very challenging, partly given the levels of political uncertainty and its important effect on the business environment.

Given increased risks in countries like Brazil what kind of concerns are you seeing in contractual agreements?

Even before the current environment in Brazil we had been incorporating clauses requiring borrowers to make disclosures and covenants on anti-corruption issues in favor of lenders. But in the ongoing  situation we have seen some Brazilian borrowers demanding similar disclosures and covenants on the issue from lenders. This reflects the highly nervous market in Brazil on all sides.

Mexico appears to be the star of Latin America this year. What opportunities do you see there?

We are seeing a lot of activity in Mexico in corporate finance, projects, and acquisitions etc.  The firm recently represented Grupo Aeroportuario de la Cuidad de Mexico in the financing of Mexico City’s new airport.  We are of course like many also very focused and excited about  opportunities arising from the Mexican energy reform.  One interesting thing about the Mexican case is that the economy is expected to  improve along with a strengthening of the US economy where many other countries’ economies in the region are expected to perform weakly in 2016.

The post The lawyers’ perspective on the region’s business in 2016 appeared first on Latin Trade.


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